Acts

Book Details

Book Information

Respected New Testament scholar Darrell L. Bock provides a substantive yet highly accessible commentary on Acts in this latest addition to the acclaimed BECNT series. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Bock leads readers through all aspects of the book of Acts--sociological, historical, and theological. His work blends academic depth with readability, making it a useful tool for students, teachers, scholars, and pastors alike. A user-friendly design with shaded text and translations of the Greek text make this commentary engaging and easy to use. The result is a guide that clearly and meaningfully brings this important New Testament book to life for contemporary readers.

Reviews

Keith Mathison gives this one his highest recommendation saying, “Darrell Bock’s massive and outstanding two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Luke raised my expectations for his commentary on Acts in the same series. I was not disappointed. This work is equally outstanding.” He points out, though, that the reader may become confused if he does not have at least some basic knowledge of Greek. If you cannot find Barrett, Bock appears to be the place to begin. [Full Review]

Bock's Baker commentary is an outstanding exegetical commentary written from an evangelical perspective which engages with the best Acts scholarship. The layout of the BECNT series is relatively user friendly.

Bock also write the BECNT on Luke, so this commentary has the same look and feel as his previous work. Bock also has a work on the Theology of Luke / Acts due from Zondervan in the Summer of 2012. His 46 page introduction briefly covers essential issues, and while I particularly like his theology of Acts section, I look forward to more detail and expansion in his upcoming biblical theology text. As with his previous commentary, each section begins with a summary of the larger unit and a translation of the text. The exegesis section includes both Greek and a transliteration of the Greek. He deals with both lexical and syntactical issues in the body of the commentary, spending more time on identifying grammatical categories than other commentaries on this list (I think that is a DTS thing!) Unlike the Luke commentary, Bock does not have a final summary at the end of the pericope, by guess is that these were dropped by the commentary series. [Full Review]

Darrell Bock's massive and outstanding two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Luke raised my expectations for his commentary on Acts in the same series. I was not disappointed. This work is equally outstanding. Like the other volumes in this series, it is somewhat technical. Greek words within the body of the text are transliterated, but if the reader does not have some understanding of Greek, it will likely become a bit confusing. [Full Review]

Bock has produced a very helpful commentary on Acts - dealing with history and theology while accepting the general trustworthiness of Luke. This is the first one I grab.
Polhill (NAC, 1992) is a good second with insightful details not found in other works. Witherington's volume (Eerdmans, 1997) gives us Witherington at his best.